


in the quicksand

by inkin_brushes



Series: Fucktoy AU (EXO) [8]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: BDSM, Dom/sub, M/M, Master/Slave, fucktoy au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-04
Updated: 2013-06-04
Packaged: 2018-10-15 21:03:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10557672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkin_brushes/pseuds/inkin_brushes
Summary: The last thing Minseok had ever expected was to be entering Kris'��s house with the intent of buying one of his toys.Warnings:General BDSM themes, D/s. This is kinkfic, an AU with master/slave relationships. If this upsets or triggers you in any way, please do not read.





	

**Author's Note:**

> wHY IS THIS SO LONG JESUS FUCKING CHRIST THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A DUMB PORN AU I GIVE UP. i guess i just have a lot of feels for minxing blararhg.

As Suho’s servant poured the tea, Kai said, “Luhan thinks he knows someone who might be interested in purchasing Yixing.”

Kris blinked, looking surprised for perhaps the first time since Kai had known him. “He does?” he asked, sipping at his tea. “And how might Luhan know of such a person?”

“An old client,” Kai said, and watched as Kris’s lips twitched, the only sign of his amusement. Kris seemed to have never gotten over the fact that Kai had purchased his toy, used, from a brothel. It wasn’t that he judged Kai for it, necessarily, or even that he disapproved; it merely amused him. Although he did insist that Kai had completely ruined Luhan with his attention.

“Well, I imagine Luhan had a lot of old clients,” Kris pointed out. “Does he actually know anything about this man?”

“His name is Minseok. He’s a ranked officer in the army, I think, Suho may know of him, even if he’s not personally acquainted?”

“Oh,” said Suho, with a smile, “yes, I know Minseok. He’s a good man.”

“Luhan says that he often expressed a wish to own a toy of his own, but never felt that he could afford one. I, of course, have not approached him, but Luhan could not speak more highly of his… character.” Kai’s own lips twitched. “I would have been worried if I did not know better.”

“I can arrange a meeting, if you want,” Suho said. He seemed very enthusiastic about the prospect. “Minseok is a friend of mine, of sorts. He was recently promoted to captain. His family background is nothing special, but he works hard and he’s sure to rise through the ranks in the next few years.”

Kris sipped at his tea again, not saying anything for a relatively long time. Kai watched him. He had known Kris for close to a year now, but he still didn’t think that he was any closer to being able to understand him. He was close to impossible to read, and Kai still didn’t know if that was a natural aspect of his personality, or something that he’d cultivated over the years. He had managed to get his position at a very young age, and was managing to toe the line well enough that nobody could have any complaints about him – although everyone gossiped like teenage girls about him, particularly about his relations with his toys. But that was part and parcel of having a position in this society, and Kai knew it well.

“I need to know that this – Minseok, was it? Yixing is – he’s not like Tao.” Kris set his tea cup down without making a noise. “He has different likes, different… desires. He needs someone who is not like me.” He almost seemed like he was smiling. “In fact, he needs someone as unlike me as possible, I think.”

“My friend,” Suho said, laying his hand on Kris’s arm. “Minseok is about as different from you as you can get.”

Kris stared at him. “I do not know if I should be offended,” he said.

Suho laughed. “Minseok is a good man, but you are as well. Just, in different ways. He’s softer than you. I don’t know what sort of person you’re looking for, exactly, I don’t know Yixing well enough, but I can vouch for Minseok’s character. He will treat Yixing well.”

Kris seemed to mull over what Suho had said, although his facial expression remained completely unreadable. “I would want to talk to the man first,” he said. “Arrange a meeting. I won’t sell to someone I haven’t met.”

“Understandable,” Suho said, nodding his head in approval. “I can approach Minseok for you. He may be interested, particularly since Yixing is so little known outside of certain circles. It takes some of the pressure off.”

“Ah, yes,” Kai said dryly. “Buying used toys is always such a risk. Who knows how your reputation will suffer.”

“It is very easy for the nephew of the Emperor to buy a used toy without suffering too much,” Suho said, successfully keeping himself from responding in the same dry tone, keeping his voice calm and collected. “Minseok has only been recently promoted. A toy of Yixing’s calibre would help establish him, but too much talk about the circumstances of his purchasing Yixing, and he could suffer for it. He could.”

“Maybe if he were buying from a low level dealer,” Kai said, sliding Suho a look. “Or buying from a brothel. Buying from someone like Kris? Even just interacting with someone of Kris’s level would raise his own profile.”

“I still think discretion is key,” Suho said, almost grumbling.

“It is,” Kris agreed. “If for no other reason than I do not want Yixing to be thrust into the public eye and gossiped over. There are some toys who enjoy it. Yixing has never.”

Kai had to hide a smile. Kris always criticised Kai and Suho over the concern they showed their toys, claiming that treating them in such a way was merely spoiling them, and ruining their training. For someone who held himself at such a self-confessed distance from toys, he seemed overly concerned for Yixing. “The concern you’re showing is touching,” he murmured.

Kris gave him a level stare that didn’t scare Kai in the slightest. “Now I am offended.”

“I’m sorry,” Kai said, even though he wasn’t.

“Approach Minseok for me,” Kris said. “I will trust your recommendation, and perhaps take Luhan’s into consideration. There’s no price yet. I will make my price depending on how I feel about the buyer.”

\---

Minseok had never formally met Lord Kris before. In fact, he’d laid eyes on the man only twice; the first time had been during a training session when Lord Suho had brought the diplomat, newly arrived in the city, to view the more basic drills of their army. Minseok had been a vice-captain then, overseeing the drills, not important enough to warrant an introduction. The second had been at a party, from across the room. His impression of Kris had been that he was tall, good looking, and dressed like some sort of ghoul in his black outfit.

The last thing he had ever expected was to be entering Kris’s house a year later, with the intent of buying one of his toys. When Suho had first come to him with the proposal, Minseok had had to fight hard against laughing in his face. Any toy owned by Lord Kris was far too expensive for someone like Minseok to own. He’d tried to word that particular fact as well as he could.

“It’s okay,” Suho reassured him. “Kris is a fair man. If he thinks that someone could be a good master for Yixing, then he’ll lower the price accordingly.”

“He’ll still ask too much,” Minseok had replied.

“Of course,” Suho said, smiling at him. “This is business, after all.”

Even Kris’s house was intimidating. The ambassador’s mansion was next to the palace, and although it was a fifth of the size, that was still huge. The gardens surrounding the building were probably big enough to fit Minseok’s house in them four times over. The entranceway made him feel like a tiny insect, insignificant amongst the marble and impressive statues dotted here and there. The servants who came to meet him treated him with a cringing kind of deference that made him even more uncomfortable.

He was led to the small drawing room, which was about the size of his own bedroom back home, and which made him wonder how big the normal drawing room was. The chair he was seated in was plush, the table in front of him dark mahogany, and the tea a servant poured for him was pale pink and fragrant. He didn’t dare take a sip in case he spilled it on himself; such a thing hadn’t happened since he was six, but he didn’t think he wanted to take any risks.

“Lord Kris will be with you soon,” said a servant, bowing lower than any servant Minseok had ever seen before. Minseok nodded unsurely and the servant left the room almost silently, a skill his own servants could never hope to emulate. Minseok shifted in his seat uncomfortably for a while, and had just decided to risk the tea to wet his suddenly dry mouth, when Kris entered the room.

It wasn’t fair, Minseok thought crossly, how one person should have so much height.

“Lord Minseok,” Kris said, as Minseok rose to his feet. “Welcome. I trust the servants have offered you tea?”

“Yes, thank you,” Minseok said, thankful he didn’t stutter. Kris had barely any accent, although he spoke a little slowly, as though he was weighing each word and making sure he pronounced them correctly.

“You may sit,” Kris said, as he took a seat himself. Minseok sat, feeling shorter than ever as he did so. “You’re a captain, yes? With the army?”

Surprised at the sudden jump into the conversation, Minseok replied, “Newly promoted, yes.”

“Congratulations.” Kris managed to sound not insincere. A servant poured him some tea, and Minseok tried not to fidget. “You have your own lodgings, I presume?”

“Yes.” Minseok had resolved to answer any questions truthfully, but in this giant house, everything about his own life seemed remarkably shabby. “I have a small house in the east. I inherited it from my uncle.”

“So your family owns land of some description?”

“A house and a small amount of land around it. My uncle was the one who owned property. My father was the captain of a ship in the navy.”

“But you are in the army.”

“I get terribly seasick,” Minseok said, with a wry smile.

“Tell me about your household.” Kris sipped at his tea and looked at Minseok over the rim of the cup in a way that brokered no argument.

“It’s – my house is, as I’ve said, on the small side. A master bedroom, three others, all with bathrooms attached. A drawing room, a kitchen towards the rear. There are gardens and a stable. I keep a household staff of four, including a housekeeper and a stable hand.”

“You have enough room for a toy?”

“Yes. Only my housekeeper and another maid live in the house itself, in the attic. There is more than enough room.”

“But you’ve never owned a toy before?”

Minseok shifted, then scolded himself; it wouldn’t do to look nervous. “No, never.”

“May I ask why?” Kris sounded interested rather than disapproving.

“I have never met a toy that I liked enough that I was able to afford,” Minseok admitted.

Funnily enough, the edges of Kris’s mouth tipped up at that, the closest Minseok felt he ever got to smiling in front of other people. “But you think you’ll be able to afford Yixing?”

“Not at all. But when Lord Suho approached me, I was interested. I have wanted to own a toy for quite some time now. A consequence of my new position, perhaps.”

“You came recommended to me from an unlikely source. I can see why they felt you would be a good suggestion.” Kris leaned forward on his chair, lacing his fingers together in front of him. “I have no doubt that you’ve heard the rumours about me, and my relations with my toys. I know how the people like to wag their tongues. You must be made aware of the fact that Yixing is not the kind of toy that people claim he is. Yixing requires a master who is _not_ the kind of master people claim I am.”

Of course, it had been inevitable that Minseok heard about Lord Kris, and his perpetually bruised toy, Tao. There were some who said that he beat his toy, although they could never decide if this was because Tao was badly behaved or because Kris was unusually cruel. Yixing had been seen out in public so rarely that there had even been rumours that Kris kept him locked up, as punishment for some misbehaviour; that it was punishment for Yixing trying to run away. Minseok had always given little heed to rumour. Lord Suho had always spoken highly of his friend, and Minseok trusted Lord Suho.

Kris seemed like he was waiting for a reply, but Minseok could think of none to give, other than a rather pathetic promise that he wasn’t cruel, which seemed pointless to express. After a brief silence, Kris pushed his chair back and climbed to his feet. “Would you like to meet Yixing?”

“Oh!” Minseok pushed himself to his feet too. He hadn’t expected this. He’d expected to be laughed out of the room from the beginning. “Yes, that would be nice.”

Kris led him out of the room and through a series of hallways and up and down a few flights of stairs, until Minseok was quite sure he wouldn’t be able to find his way back on his own. They walked in mostly silence, broken only when servants bustled past and simpered greetings to their Lord. Kris led Minseok to a room in what Minseok guessed to be the west wing. The hallway was plainly decorated, the door painted white. There was nothing to suggest it even belonged to anyone.

Kris knocked on the door and seemed to only pause for a moment before he pushed it open without waiting for a response. The inhabitant seemed surprised but didn’t miss a beat, as he shut the book he had been reading and rose to his feet from his bed. “Master,” he said, eyes to the floor deferentially, before he looked up again.

Minseok had only seen Yixing once before, and only then at a distance, by Kris’s side at the party. He hadn’t really given him much thought, other than to note how attractive he was; but then most toys were remarkably attractive. Yixing wasn’t tall, although it was hard to tell whether he was taller than Minseok. He was slim, the robes he wore pulled in at the waist to highlight how small it was. He had long brown hair, cut so that it lay feathered around his face. There were a number of silver bracelets on his wrist, but otherwise he wore no jewellery or make up. He was, up close like this, completely stunning.

“Yixing,” Kris said, as Yixing looked between him and Minseok curiously. “This is Lord Minseok. He’s expressed interest in purchasing you.”

“Oh,” said Yixing. He glanced at Minseok, blushed, and looked back down.

“It’s nice to meet you, Yixing,” said Minseok, hoping he didn’t sound too nervous.

Yixing didn’t show any signs of noticing if he had. “It’s nice to meet you too, Lord Minseok,” he said, raising his eyes, smiling shyly, and then looking back at the ground. He had a rather strong accent, much stronger than Kris’s, although he was perfectly understandable.

“I’ll let you talk,” Kris said. “Perhaps five or so minutes? I have to talk to the kitchen about the preparations for dinner, it shouldn’t take too long.”

At Minseok’s somewhat unsure nod, Kris left the room, leaving the door open just a notch. Yixing stayed silent, watching Minseok with his head cocked to the side. Minseok waited for him to say something, anything, but he didn’t.

“I’m Minseok,” Minseok said, “but I guess – Lord Kris already said that. Uh.” He looked around the room. It was about the same size as his bedroom back home, very airy and light. The walls were painted cream, with wooden flooring that was uneven but added character. The windows at the end of the room were very large and open, letting a light breeze into the room, sending the white, flimsy curtains billowing slightly.

There was the usual furniture: a large wardrobe, a chest of drawers, a small table and a chair next to it that looked plush and comfortable. Everything was made of a light wood. There was also a small bookcase, filled with books, most of which didn’t seem to be in any language that Minseok was able to read. Minseok glanced at the book that lay on the bed. It was rare to find a toy who could read. “What are you reading?” he asked.

Yixing glanced down at the book. He said something in his own tongue and then blushed. “I don’t know how to translate the title,” he said.

“That’s okay,” Minseok reassured him. “What is it about?”

“It’s about two people who fall in love but their families keep them apart,” Yixing said, blushing even harder. “I – it’s not really – I enjoy it.”

Minseok thought it was cute, how embarrassed he was. All Minseok ever seemed to read was manuals on military tactics, who was he to judge what other people read? “It sounds interesting. You like to read?”

“Yes.” Yixing pointed to the bookcase and then to the windows. “I like to read. And I like to be outside, too.”

“I have a small garden,” Minseok said. “It’s not as big as this one, it’s not as impressive but it could be made pretty.”

Yixing stayed silent, smiling lightly but not looking overly sure of himself. Minseok didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone as pretty as Yixing. He had bedded Luhan, and been attracted to him, but there had been something artificial about Luhan. His entire life had relied on being as attractive to as many people as possible. Minseok had known, even bedding Luhan, that most of what Luhan did was an act. Yixing had none of that artifice. He wasn’t dressed up, he was dressed as plainly as any toy could be, but Minseok’s eyes continued to be drawn to him, standing motionless by the bed.

Minseok walked to the bookcase, scanning his eyes over the titles, searching for something he recognised. He found a couple of books in his own language, but he hadn’t actually heard of them. “I don’t read much,” he admitted. “Do you – could you recommend anything?”

Yixing hesitated, then walked across the room to the bookcase. He walked lightly, the sounds of his robes rustling louder than his footsteps. He ran his fingers across the spines of the books on the shelf, before plucking one easily. “This one,” he said. “It is not so – it is written in your tongue. It is only written in your tongue, my master looked for a copy in my own but could not find it.”

Minseok raised an eyebrow. The thought of Kris searching for something in order to give it to a toy seemed a little fantastical. He took the book from Yixing’s hand. He didn’t recognise the title at all. He turned it back and forth, flipped through a few pages and skimmed through the text. It looked interesting, if not the sort of thing he’d have picked out for himself. “Is it your favourite?” he asked.

Yixing smiled. “No, my Lord,” he said. “But it is probably the closest to the sort of thing you would like.”

“How do you know what I’d like?” Minseok asked. He’d meant it playfully, but Yixing suddenly looked stricken, mumbling apologies, that he hadn’t meant to overstep or speak out of turn. “No, no,” Minseok reassured him, alarmed. “I was only playing. I’m sure I’d love it. I will try to find my own copy. I wouldn’t want to take yours away from you.”

Yixing’s smile seemed a little unsure, shy in the most appealing way. “I – thank you. I hope you enjoy the book, if you find it, my Lord.”

“I’m sure I will,” Minseok reassured him.

The door swung open and Kris stepped back into the room. He looked at Yixing closely, who was curling his toes into his flooring for some inexplicable reason, and at Minseok, who tried to keep his face as blank as possible. He didn’t need Kris thinking him a love-struck idiot.

“Did you talk?” Kris asked, although Minseok got the feeling that he had heard at least the tail-end of their conversation.

“Yes,” Minseok said. “Yixing is very…” He struggled to find the right words. In the end, he was forced to settle for, “He’s very sweet,” which didn’t seem strong enough.

“Quite,” said Kris dryly. “Very well. We’ll leave you to your reading, Yixing. I would like to talk to you tonight. Don’t worry, there will be only talking.” Minseok glanced at Yixing, whose eyes were to the floor, but his mouth had twisted into a smile. “Lord Minseok, please follow me.”

Minseok followed Kris through the labyrinth of hallways and stairs until they were back in the drawing room. Kris waited until more tea had been poured until he said simply, “Well?”

Minseok struggled. “He’s sweet, like I said. He’s polite, well-trained. He’s—”

“I’m aware,” Kris interrupted. “What I meant was, how do you like him?”

“I like him,” Minseok said stubbornly. He was not about to let Kris know how much he had truly liked Yixing, that the thought of owning Yixing and bedding him excited him more than any other toy he’d ever encountered. There was no way Minseok could afford Yixing. The less he let himself think about how taken he had been, the less it would hurt.

“You have to understand, Lord Minseok, I am looking for a master who will treat Yixing as well as he possibly can. Merely liking him is not enough.”

“Lord Kris.” Minseok straightened his back, set his shoulders. “I appreciate your concerns. I liked Yixing a great deal, who could not. He is more beautiful than most toys I’ve seen. I am not adverse to purchasing him. But a toy like Yixing, he is out of my price range. His training, his pedigree. His beauty. His ability to read. How could I afford a toy like this?”

Kris inspected him, like he was a beetle stuck on the end of a needle. “I am asking for one hundred and twenty thousand gold pieces for Yixing,” he said eventually.

Minseok blinked at him, almost reeling. “That is…considerably less than I was expecting.”

“Indeed. The fact of the matter is that Yixing is not as young as some toys that are for sale now. He has had a few years of use already. He is beautiful, and he will remain so for many years, and yes, his training is flawless. But he is used. I cannot allow myself to go lower than this, but going much higher seems like fraud.”

Minseok sat silently, afraid of opening his mouth and saying something rash. One hundred and twenty thousand was still outside of the price range that he had been planning with, but not so far out that he couldn’t afford it. It would be a stretch, a stretch he hadn’t been expecting, but a stretch he could achieve.

“You may think about it,” Kris said reassuringly. “However, I am waiting to hear back from another couple of interested people. I cannot promise to not make a decision before you make up your mind.”

Knowledge that other people were interested in buying Yixing hit Minseok like a punch to the gut. The option had opened up in front of him and now it seemed like it could be snatched away again. If someone were to offer considerably more than the price Kris was asking for, Minseok could not hope to compete against that.

His only option, he mused, as he rode home, was to get his offer in as soon as he possibly could. He did not know if Kris would accept that offer, but if he didn’t try, he knew he would regret it. The thought of seeing Yixing at parties on the arm of someone else, knowing that Minseok could have owned him, made him sick to his stomach.

Back home, he peeled off his outer clothing slowly, hanging them up himself to save disturbing his housekeeper. It had become late in the day without him being aware of it. He didn’t feel tired, however. He felt perfectly awake, his brain full of plans, trying to work out where he would be able to cut back in order to afford a new toy and all that came with it. It wasn’t just the price tag he had to worry about. None of the bedrooms were suitable for a toy right now. Buying Yixing would require a lot more money than just the one hundred and twenty thousand gold pieces that Kris had stipulated.

He worked until late number checking, and eventually stumbled into bed with his head full of numbers. When his housekeeper woke him early the next morning as usual, he groaned at her. “Come, young master,” she said, rather disapprovingly. “It’s past time to be greeting the day.”

Minseok sat upright, struggling to hold his eyes open. She brought his tray of breakfast and lay it on the bed for him. “We have already had a letter from General Visey,” she said, as she made the rounds of the room, picking up his clothing from where he’d laid them over a chair. “There was some trouble with your men last night.”

“Were you reading my letters again?” Minseok asked.

“Would you like to read them?” she retorted. “You cannot hold your eyes open.”

“I was awake until late, I had some business to take care of.” She made a disapproving noise. “Bring me some paper and a quill and ink, I have a note to write.”

After he had written his note to Lord Kris telling him that he would pay the full amount, he handed it to his housekeeper. “Get someone to deliver that to Lord Kris’s house. He lives in the north side of the city, in the ambassador’s mansion.”

She read the note unabashedly. “One hundred and twenty gold pieces? Whatever for?”

“A toy.”

She sniffed at him. “Ridiculous amount of money.”

“I know. But I think he’ll be worth it.”

\---

Minseok hadn’t actually expected his offer to be accepted. He had expected his offer to be immediately outbid, but by the end of the week, Kris wrote him a letter to tell him that he was willing to sell Yixing to him, was willing to deliver his new toy whenever Minseok wished, providing the money was sent to him beforehand. Minseok had had to show the letter to Suho and get confirmation it was in Kris’s handwriting before he could accept it as truth.

And so now he was waiting in his bedroom. He had heard the sound of the carriage down below which signalled that Yixing had arrived, heard the hustle and bustle of a number of trunks being carried into the house. The room that Minseok had prepared had had a bookshelf newly fitted. Minseok hoped Yixing liked the touch.

He’d given orders for Yixing to be sent to his room as soon as he arrived. He didn’t have many thoughts to trying him out that night, but he wanted to talk, to let him know the rules of his household before they began. Although that was going to be a short talk, because there weren’t many rules in Minseok’s household, and all of them were set by the housekeeper. Minseok was subject to them as much as anyone.

The knock on the door took Minseok by surprise, and he jumped and almost upset the jug of water on the side-table. “Come in,” he called, and was disappointed when his live-in maid stuck her head in the door.

“Your toy is here,” she said. “He’s very pretty, isn’t he?”

“Yes, and he can understand everything you say, you know.” Minseok waved her away. “Send him in, please.”

She did as she was bid, giggling just like she had been since she found out that he was buying a toy. The door pushed open and Yixing stepped inside, just a step inside the door. The door shut behind with a note of finality that made even Minseok feel a little trapped.

“Come in,” he said. “You don’t have to stand at the door.”

Yixing walked forward until he was standing in the middle of the room, and then stopped, waiting for further instructions. He was dressed in a white robe, the material clinging and skimming across his body in certain places, fitted well. It was embroidered with silver thread, delicate patterns swirling all over the material. There were a number of thin silver chains around his neck, and silver earrings dangling from his ears. His hair hung mostly around his face, a small section pulled back and held with a silver clasp in the shape of a dragon.

“You look very pretty,” Minseok said, grasping the back of a chair because he didn’t know what to do with his hands.

Yixing’s toes curled into the carpet for a moment, then relaxed. “Thank you, master,” he said, looking down at the floor. He was blushing lightly.

Minseok scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “I know – my house is not as nice as your previous master’s.” Yixing looked up in surprise before he averted his gaze. “I don’t have the same amount of resources that Kris has. I’ve prepared a room for you, as best as I can. It will probably not be as comfortable as the one that you’re used to, but I hope you’ll like it.”

Yixing didn’t say anything. Minseok didn’t know how to react to that. He crossed the room and sat on the bed, playing with his own fingers. After a moment he looked up and saw Yixing curling his toes into the carpet again. He was biting his bottom lip, worrying it between his teeth, and every part of his body screamed of his discomfort.

Minseok’s stomach was currently in the vicinity of his knees. He’d always known that buying a toy could mean buying someone who wasn’t interested in him, who didn’t even like him; it was why he’d always hired before, because those toys knew how to make their short term masters feel wanted. It was their job. But now he had bought Yixing, and judging from Yixing’s current behaviour, Yixing didn’t like him. When he had thought there was only a chance that Minseok had wanted to buy him, he had been polite and friendly; now that he had bought, the reality of his situation seemed to have hit him. Minseok had never seen someone so uncomfortable in his presence.

“Come here,” Minseok said, sighing slightly. Yixing stepped forward until he was standing in front of Minseok, his gaze still averted. “It’s okay,” Minseok said gently. “If you don’t like me, I won’t make you stay with me. I can send you back to Kris, if you want that.”

Yixing still didn’t say anything. Minseok didn’t know what to do, what he was supposed to say. Yixing’s mouth moved like he was chewing the inside of his mouth, the rest of his body held absolutely still. “You don’t like me,” Minseok said.

Yixing’s head shot up. “No--” he blurted out, before he clapped his hands over his mouth and was silent again, blushing bright red. His toes curled into the carpet so much that he actually lost his balance for a second before he pulled himself back.

“No, what?” Minseok asked, confused.

Nothing again.

Minseok stood up, brushing past Yixing with a sigh. He would have to contact Kris the next day and explain. He couldn’t own a toy who didn’t want to be with him. It wasn’t something that he could willingly do, not to himself nor to someone else. He didn’t even care if Kris didn’t return the money. This was all Minseok’s fault.

“I’m sorry I’ve displeased you,” Yixing mumbled.

“Do you _want_ to please me?” Minseok asked, before he could stop himself.

“Very much so,” Yixing said quietly. His eyes flicked up to Minseok’s for a brief second, but he seemed sincere. “I just... I don’t know how, master.”

Minseok scratched the back of his neck again. He didn’t know how to please Yixing, either. But he was the master, he was supposed to know. He was supposed to know how to act around toys. But Yixing was not acting like any toy that Minseok had ever interacted with. There was something oddly cold about him. Perhaps that made sense. He had belonged to Kris, after all, and Kris was most certainly not a warm person. Kris managed tepid at best.

“I’m sorry,” Yixing mumbled again.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Minseok decided aloud. Yixing looked shocked, but nodded his head, seeming to almost brace himself. That wasn’t exactly what Minseok had wanted to see, but he didn’t make a fuss. Instead, he stepped up close, put his hand tentatively on Yixing’s shoulder, then leaned down and pressed their mouths together.

It was fairly chaste, just a normal kiss, Minseok not forcing anything, but he felt the tension in Yixing’s shoulder, the way he held himself straight and upright, how his mouth stayed unresponsive under Minseok’s. When he pulled away, Yixing was breathing hard, his eyelashes lowered, but it was impossible to miss the tears in his eyes.

Minseok pulled back so fast he almost stumbled over. “It’s okay,” he said, words tumbling out of him. “You can leave. I’m sorry, I won’t force this on you.”

He turned away, heading to the bowl of water on his nightstand, splashing some of it on his face. He gripped the edge of the table, struggling to stop himself from doing something stupid like crying himself, and waited for the sound of his bedroom door opening and closing. He was probably just going to drown himself once Yixing had left.

The sound never came. After a couple of seconds, Minseok turned around and found Yixing standing exactly where he’d left him. He was biting his bottom lip, eyes to the floor. “It’s okay,” Minseok said again, just wanting him out of there. “You may leave.”

“I don’t want to leave,” Yixing said.

“But you’re upset,” Minseok said blankly.

“I’m not – I’m upset at myself, master,” Yixing said. “Please, don’t send me away.”

He was still curling his toes into the carpet, and he was still biting his lip, unable to look Minseok into the eye. And suddenly, Minseok realised, he realised that it maybe wasn’t that Yixing didn’t like him, it was that he was – “You’re nervous!”

Yixing nodded.

“Why?” Minseok asked, baffled. “I’m not going to hurt you. I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to do either.”

“I want to please you,” Yixing said, “but I don’t know how. It’s been, it’s been a while for me, and I – you’re nothing like—” He cut himself off, looking horrified.

“I’m nothing like Kris,” Minseok said gently. “It’s okay. I know I’m not. I’m not – I’m not handsome, I can imagine that it’s harder to want to bed me.”

Yixing blinked at him a couple of times, his head cocking to the side. Then his face did something strange, his nose screwing up as his eyes widened. His toes relaxed. “I want to bed you, master,” he said, very simply.

Minseok couldn’t help himself; he blushed.

Suddenly, all of the tension in Yixing seemed to bleed out of him. He smiled, very shyly, and took a step forward. “Can I kiss you, master?” he asked, looking at Minseok through his eyelashes.

“…Yes,” said Minseok. He felt entirely wrong-footed. Everything, in the past few minutes, seemed to have completely shifted, until he wasn’t sure what was going on. Yixing was still smiling as he stepped up close, hesitating just for a moment as he looked at Minseok.

Then Yixing’s hands came up and he cupped Minseok’s cheeks, his palms warm and soft, and as he leaned down to close the small amount of space between them, his hair fell forward so that it brushed Minseok’s forehead. When their lips touched, Yixing was unsure but more relaxed than before.

Minseok was more relaxed too. He could sense, now, that Yixing had not frozen up because he didn’t want this, but because he just didn’t know what he was doing. Minseok slid his hands onto Yixing’s hips and kissed harder, moving his mouth against Yixing’s, coaxing him to open up.

It didn’t seem to take much in the end, Yixing’s mouth falling open eagerly. He kissed Minseok slowly, open-mouthed, in a way that made heat coil in Minseok’s lower stomach. He pulled Yixing flush against him, already feeling the start of arousal. He wanted Yixing so badly.

Yixing sucked gently on Minseok’s bottom lip as he pulled away, making Minseok gasp. Then Yixing dropped his hands from Minseok’s cheeks to his chest, his fingers hesitating before starting on the buttons of Minseok’s jacket. “Kris said that he brought you from his home country with him,” Minseok said, not sure what he was supposed to do while Yixing undressed him. He hadn’t expected this.

“Yes, master,” Yixing said. He seemed to be having some struggle with the buttons. “I’m afraid that I’m not very good at your tongue yet. I—” He huffed at himself as he failed to get any of the buttons on Minseok’s jacket undone.

“It’s okay,” Minseok said, struggling not to laugh. “Both the buttons and the language. I can do this, it’s okay.”

“I’m sorry,” Yixing murmured. “It’s been – it’s been a while, for me, since—” He stopped again, blushing.

“Since Kris bedded you?” Yixing nodded. Through some masochistic urge, Minseok asked, “How long?”

Yixing cocked his head to the side, thinking. “Well, about… six months.”

“Oh,” said Minseok. Yixing looked down and curled his toes into the carpet. Minseok stepped back so that he could undo his jacket, shrugging it off his shoulders and laying it neatly over the chair at his desk. Yixing was still curling his toes into the carpet, still looking down at the floor, so he didn’t seem to notice when Minseok reached for him.

It had been a while since Luhan had first taught him how to pull in order to undo the robes toys wore in the most efficient way. Minseok could still hear him, whispering as he led Minseok’s hands to his side, his voice murmuring, “Here, like this – no, pull from the side, and -- _yes_.” Minseok, who had expected his hands to shake and to fumble worse than Yixing’s, was rather proud of himself, as he tugged at a tie on Yixing’s side, and the robes he was wearing fell apart, falling open at the front and down off his shoulders.

Yixing, meanwhile, made a rather scared noise of surprise and blushed scarlet, his hands twitching like he wanted to grab his robes. Minseok did it for him, grasping them and pulling them back onto Yixing’s shoulders, covering him up before they could fall too far. “I’m sorry,” he said, horrified. “I’m so sorry, I just thought—”

“No, no,” Yixing said. He was clutching the robes to him. “I just – I don’t – I’m not – other toys – beautiful—” Then he took a deep breath and let the robes drop.

Under the clothing, Yixing was pale, his arms somewhat darker than the rest of his body, as though he’d been spending a lot of time outdoors recently. There was a hint of muscle definition to his body, although nothing too pronounced. As Minseok looked at him, the blush on his face and throat spread, and his entire body was shaking, like he was fighting the urge to cover up.

Minseok’s mouth had gone perfectly dry. “You’re beautiful,” he said, almost blurting it out, and then wanted to punch himself in the face. Yixing seemed to blush even harder, if that were somehow possible. Minseok could feel his own blush spreading down the back of his neck. “I’m …I’m not,” he said, with a short, awkward laugh.

Yixing cocked his head to the side again, his face scrunching again in a way that Minseok realised was his expression of surprise. “I think you’re attractive, master,” he said, with a small, very genuine smile.

Minseok blinked at him. “You haven’t even seen me shirtless yet,” he pointed out.

Yixing stepped forward again and began on the buttons of his shirt. This time Yixing didn’t fumble, as he tugged at buttons and ties, until he could push Minseok’s shirt from his shoulders. He let his hands trace over Minseok’s chest, thumbs brushing against Minseok’s nipples. “I still think you’re attractive, master,” he said, smiling at Minseok playfully.

“You—” said Minseok, and then he stopped. He pulled Yixing towards him, wrapped his arms around his waist and kissed him, their bare chests pressed together. Yixing’s hands got caught between their bodies and he giggled into Minseok’s mouth as he retrieved them and hooked them over Minseok’s shoulders. Minseok kissed him languidly, taking his time, his hands trailing up Yixing’s back and then down to his ass, squeezing lightly.

Yixing half-sighed, half-giggled at that, and he was pressed so close that Minseok could feel his cock hardening against his hip. Minseok turned him so that he could walk Yixing backwards until his knees hit the bed and he buckled down onto it, laying with his limbs outstretched. He gave a surprised, breathless laugh.

Minseok thought about telling him how beautiful he was, how badly Minseok had been lusting after him since they’ve met – he’d woken up hard every night the past week, thinking about exactly this – but he didn’t much feel like talking. Instead, he climbed onto the bed himself, bracing himself on his hands and knees above Yixing, and kissed him again and again.

Before long Yixing was shifting on the bed, moaning into Minseok’s mouth every time Minseok touched his chest, his throat, stroked his hand down the length of his side. When Minseok finally worked up to touching his cock, already hard, sliding his thumb across the slit at the head, Yixing cried out and bucked his hips up.

It had been six months, Minseok thought, six months since he’d been touched by anyone. He knew that toys weren’t allowed to touch themselves, weren’t allowed to pleasure themselves without their master’s express permission. Minseok didn’t think Kris would have given much thought to it. Minseok tried to think of six months of nothing but night time betrayals and came up blank. The thought was too weird to accurately imagine.

Minseok dropped his mouth to Yixing’s throat, kissing gently, as he took Yixing’s cock in his hand and began to stroke. Yixing jerked up into the touch, turning his face away so that it was half pressed into the pillow, his breaths coming in heaving semi-sobs.

Yixing’s body was lithe, and Minseok could see that there wasn’t an inch of fat on him. He simultaneously twisted into Minseok’s touch and away from it in a way that turned Minseok’s mouth perfectly dry. His hips arched up, fucking into Minseok’s hand. Minseok turned his head towards him so he could kiss him.

Minseok couldn’t believe this, as he kissed Yixing’s open mouth. This toy belonged to him now, this toy who had hooked his arm around Minseok’s neck to drag him closer, to keep him there. Judging from the way he whined when Minseok pulled away for a second, Yixing liked the kisses, and Minseok was more than happy to oblige him. He made sure to suck on Yixing’s bottom lip just like Yixing had done earlier, and Yixing’s hand scrambled at the back of his hair, tugging slightly.

When Minseok did it again, purposefully, Yixing came, hips lifting off the bed and spine arching as he fucked up into Minseok’s hand, crying out against Minseok’s mouth. Minseok kissed his mouth, feeling pleased.

Yixing was trembling as he recovered, his breathing slowly returning to something close to normal. Minseok kissed his cheeks, his eyebrows, his forehead, which was when Yixing said, sounding truly ashamed, “I’m sorry.”

Minseok pulled away, frowning at him. “What? Why are you apologising?”

“I—” Yixing looked and sounded close to tears now, his trembling apparently from something other than the pleasure he’d just felt. “I didn’t – you never said that I could and I didn’t wait, and I’m so sorry, master, I am, please don’t be angry with me, I didn’t mean to—” He fell silent, squeezing his eyes shut.

Oh, right, Minseok thought vaguely. I’m supposed to give him permission to come.

He leaned down and kissed Yixing’s eyelids. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “Yixing, with me, you don’t have to ask for permission for that.”

Yixing blinked at him, eyes still full of tears. “I don’t understand.”

“You don’t need to wait for me to tell you it’s okay to come,” Minseok explained, feeling the blush at the back of his neck. “If it happens, it happens.”

“But, master, that’s not—”

“That’s not how Kris did it,” Minseok acknowledged. “I imagine it’s not how a lot of masters do it. But Yixing, I just don’t care about it. I want you to like what we do together. I don’t want you to worry.”

“You don’t…” Yixing fell silent. He wiped at his eyes, his head tipping to the side as he looked at Minseok solemnly. Then he blushed, looking away. “I like the way you kiss me, master.”

Minseok tipped his head back, coming in close enough to just brush their lips together. “I like kissing you,” he said. “I would like to kiss you in more places, like this.” He dropped his head and kissed Yixing’s throat, ever so softly. Yixing shivered, his hands clutching at Minseok’s shoulders.

Minseok kissed down, letting his lips drag, until he could suck on one of Yixing’s nipples. Yixing let out a light sigh, squirming. Minseok kissed and sucked it until Yixing was sighing out, “Master,” and when he arched up into Minseok, he was already half-hard again against Minseok’s hip.

Minseok pulled away. Yixing looked a mess, his hair half hanging out of the clasp that was clinging for dear life to his hair. Minseok reached up and removed it for him, placing it on the bedside table, out of the way. The dragon was the symbol of Kris’s house, and when Minseok looked closer he saw that the eyes were emeralds, glinting in the candlelight. Minseok would never be able to afford to buy Yixing anything as beautiful as that.

“I would like to bed you, Yixing,” Minseok said slowly, staring at Yixing. “I wanted to wait, but I can’t. May I?”

Yixing looked confused. “Of course, master.”

“I didn’t want to if you don’t want me to.”

Yixing’s face smoothed out. “I want you to,” he said. His hands came up and rested on the ties of Minseok’s pants. “Can I…?”

Minseok swallowed. “Yes.”

Yixing’s hands were eager, if a little fumbling. Minseok kissed him as he pushed his pants down over Minseok’s hips and thighs until Minseok could kick them off himself. Yixing’s hand went to his cock immediately, his head darting up to kiss Minseok’s mouth and smothering the moan Minseok made. His hands were somewhat small, but he seemed to be gaining confidence, because the way he moved his hands was anything but unsure. Soon Minseok was gasping and pushing his hands away. “Stop, stop.”

Yixing fell back, looking suddenly unsure and worried. He seemed almost to be waiting for some reprimand. “I want to bed you,” Minseok said, breathing heavily, trying to regain his control. “I won’t be able to if you continue like that for much longer.”

“Oh.” Yixing’s eyes fell half-shut, his hips shifting on the bed languidly. Minseok fumbled for the lube that he had bought, the nicest brand that he had been able to justify buying. He coated his fingers and then lay along Yixing’s side, kissing his mouth gently as he spread his legs.

The noise that Yixing made when Minseok slid the first finger into him, a soft, helpless whimper, made Minseok kiss him harder, his free hand tipping his head back. Minseok added a second finger, worked him open slowly, Yixing’s arm hooked back around his neck, his kisses increasingly desperate. When Minseok slid in a third, Yixing bucked, his cock hard against his stomach. He mewled something in his own tongue, his fingers playing with the hair at the base of Minseok’s neck again.

“What did you say?” Minseok murmured, kissing and sucking under Yixing’s ear.

“I said, this feels so good – ah!” Yixing’s hands scrambled, nails digging into Minseok’s shoulders, as Minseok hooked his fingers deep inside him. “Oh please,” Yixing whispered, “oh please, please.”

Minseok slid his fingers out and wrapped his hand around his cock, pumping a couple of times. He moved to kneel between Yixing’s legs and Yixing’s hands dropped to his hips and stayed there.

“Are you sure?” Minseok asked quietly.

Yixing tugged at his hips impatiently. “Please, master, I want this, I want this so badly, please.”

Minseok took a deep breath and after a small amount of fumbling, slid into Yixing, slow and careful. Yixing whined, letting out a sob when Minseok was all the way in, his nails leaving imprints against Minseok’s skin. Minseok rocked his hips shallowly and Yixing cried out desperately.

As Minseok fucked him, Yixing twisted, arched, bucked up, his legs wrapping around Minseok’s hips, every movement of Minseok’s body copied as Yixing tried to fuck back against him. His mouth met Minseok’s eagerly, his hands cupping Minseok’s cheeks again to hold him there, hold him so that Yixing could kiss him over and over.

Minseok’s head was spinning, his control on a knife edge. Fucking Yixing felt like nothing he had experienced before. There was no artifice in the way he clutched at Minseok’s shoulders, the way he pressed his tongue against Minseok’s teeth, dirty and opened mouthed. It was only desperation, need.

When Minseok stilled, buried deep inside of him, Yixing cried out in his own language. His hands were pressed to the side of Minseok’s face, their lips just brushing. Minseok pulled away and kissed his forehead. “ _Master_ ,” Yixing moaned.

“Touch yourself,” Minseok said, shocked by how rough his voice was. “Touch yourself and come for me, Yixing.”

Yixing worked his hand between their bodies, wrapped his fingers around himself, and cried out, “Please move, I beg you, please.” Minseok rolled his hips, kissed his forehead again, felt it as Yixing came, Yixing crying out in pleasure and surprise.

Yixing slumped, exhausted, his legs falling away from Minseok’s hips. Minseok pressed their foreheads together, nuzzled their noses together. Yixing smiled shyly, turning his head so that it was their cheeks that touched. Then he undulated his hips in a way that had Minseok gasping and scrambling to stop him, pulling his head away.

“But master,” Yixing said, confused, “you haven’t—”

“I like the way it feels,” Minseok interrupted, blushing, “to be inside you like this. Just a little longer.” Yixing laughed and did the thing with his hips again. “Is that strange?”

Yixing hesitated. “A little,” he admitted. “I like it too though. But master,” he added, drawing Minseok’s head back to him so he could murmur into his ear, “I think I’d like it more to feel you come inside me like this.” Then he sucked lightly on the lobe.

Minseok hissed out a curse, and began to move again. He fucked harder this time, holding Yixing’s hips down. Yixing murmured into his ear, things that Minseok didn’t even hear, things he couldn’t comprehend, lost in the feeling of how it felt to move inside Yixing.

He came in what felt like an embarrassingly short space of time, dropping against Yixing’s body. Yixing wriggled out of his hold and moved his hips against him, drawing his orgasm out, Minseok gasping into the pillow. It took him a long time to catch his breath.

Yixing’s eyes were half closed when Minseok rolled off him, and he curled sleepily against Minseok’s body, smiling at him in that strange, shy way. Minseok stroked a hand down his bare side and made him shiver. “Good toys sleep at the end of the bed, don’t they?” Minseok asked; he had heard that.

The smile on Yixing’s face changed a little. “Yes, master,” he replied demurely, although Minseok could hear the amusement in his voice.

“Do you want to sleep there?” Minseok asked awkwardly.

Yixing wrapped his fingers around Minseok’s wrist and pulled his hand to his mouth. He kissed Minseok’s knuckles. “Yes,” he whispered. “Very much so.”

Minseok’s beath caught. He leaned down and kissed Yixing again and again until they were both breathless and Yixing was laughing. His lips were swollen, his hair in complete disarray, and he was the most beautiful thing that Minseok had ever laid his eyes on.


End file.
